Just thought I'd pass along seeing where woot.com has an Alpine IXA-W404 for $199.99 + $5 shipping today. Looks pretty nice and I'm sure it 's a good piece and will save about $50 or more off what most people are selling it for.

headhunter do you know what kind of issue..I was thinking of getting one too

Click to expand...

I just looked it up on amazon, and googled and found some see below. Also, it mentioned that you have to buy add on stuff for functionality. Hey-- I could be wrong here, you know how feedback is, but might not be worth the cost....

I have been an avid car audio enthusiast for 20 years and have always had the latest and greatest, but have never considered a Pioneer product for much of anything. I recently needed a double sized unit for a new Jeep Wrangler at the beach and initially went with the Alpine ix w404 because it has the big knob which is great in a bouncy Jeep. But the interface with the ipod was VERY slow, it frequently would lose track of where it was in a song/playlist, sometimes would not charge the phone, etc. all the while not even having a CD player, EQ, or sub crossover! The low voltage outputs made the music quiet from the factory amp interface, not to mention with no crossover offered for the sub it was muddy. Only a 2 band EQ means no tweaking the sound to an acceptable level. Most single DIN radios from other companies have far better features, acoustics, sound quality, and functionality than this double DIN unit, not to mention they also can play a CD!

The pioneer 4200dvd makes it sound like I put in a few amps and new sub just by the head unit alone with the excellent EQ, sub crossover, easy setup, super fast ipod access which can be controlled both from the ipod and the head unit touch screen (something the big brands don't offer) not to mention playing cds, dvds, sds!

Don't waste your time with THIS alpine, there is a reason it has been discontinued!

OR

Okay, let me first state that this is the third Alpine deck I have purchased and the others did not give me anywhere near as much trouble as this one did. First the good points:

- Its Alpine, so much like coveted Apple devices its intuitive, so you don't feel the need to pore over the manual before you launch out of the parking lot.

- It sounds really good. Especially when pushing Bose speakers.

- Good customer service (you'll understand in a minute).

Now for the frustrating part:

- What Alpine negelects to mention and the crux of my disappointment with this deck is that the firmware updates for this and the 400BT (Bluetooth Device) have to done using a PC... I own a Macbook Pro. Even with the PC side of my MBP (Windows XP) trying to push the updates, no dice. Pretty key point you omitted, there Alpine.

- The deck has been replaced for me by Alpine once already because it kept freezing up after about an hour when attached to my 2nd Gen iPod Touch. I had the iPod checked out by Apple just to be certain it wasn't the culprit... nope, its the deck. Even now with the second (improved) deck installed, it still happens way to frequently for what I paid for this thing when it first came out.

- The 400BT and deck combined have issues recognizing my phone for the hands free operation. I own a Motorola Droid, I phone I recognize was released AFTER the deck was made, but we refer back to complaint #1 whereas had the system been made to work with any bluetooth capable computer I'd have been able to load the most updated firmware so that it COULD recognize the newer phone.

This will be the last time I purchase an Alpine product if this is how far their quality standards have fallen.

I just looked it up on amazon, and googled and found some see below. Also, it mentioned that you have to buy add on stuff for functionality. Hey-- I could be wrong here, you know how feedback is, but might not be worth the cost....

I have been an avid car audio enthusiast for 20 years and have always had the latest and greatest, but have never considered a Pioneer product for much of anything. I recently needed a double sized unit for a new Jeep Wrangler at the beach and initially went with the Alpine ix w404 because it has the big knob which is great in a bouncy Jeep. But the interface with the ipod was VERY slow, it frequently would lose track of where it was in a song/playlist, sometimes would not charge the phone, etc. all the while not even having a CD player, EQ, or sub crossover! The low voltage outputs made the music quiet from the factory amp interface, not to mention with no crossover offered for the sub it was muddy. Only a 2 band EQ means no tweaking the sound to an acceptable level. Most single DIN radios from other companies have far better features, acoustics, sound quality, and functionality than this double DIN unit, not to mention they also can play a CD!

The pioneer 4200dvd makes it sound like I put in a few amps and new sub just by the head unit alone with the excellent EQ, sub crossover, easy setup, super fast ipod access which can be controlled both from the ipod and the head unit touch screen (something the big brands don't offer) not to mention playing cds, dvds, sds!

Don't waste your time with THIS alpine, there is a reason it has been discontinued!

OR

Okay, let me first state that this is the third Alpine deck I have purchased and the others did not give me anywhere near as much trouble as this one did. First the good points:

- Its Alpine, so much like coveted Apple devices its intuitive, so you don't feel the need to pore over the manual before you launch out of the parking lot.

- It sounds really good. Especially when pushing Bose speakers.

- Good customer service (you'll understand in a minute).

Now for the frustrating part:

- What Alpine negelects to mention and the crux of my disappointment with this deck is that the firmware updates for this and the 400BT (Bluetooth Device) have to done using a PC... I own a Macbook Pro. Even with the PC side of my MBP (Windows XP) trying to push the updates, no dice. Pretty key point you omitted, there Alpine.

- The deck has been replaced for me by Alpine once already because it kept freezing up after about an hour when attached to my 2nd Gen iPod Touch. I had the iPod checked out by Apple just to be certain it wasn't the culprit... nope, its the deck. Even now with the second (improved) deck installed, it still happens way to frequently for what I paid for this thing when it first came out.

- The 400BT and deck combined have issues recognizing my phone for the hands free operation. I own a Motorola Droid, I phone I recognize was released AFTER the deck was made, but we refer back to complaint #1 whereas had the system been made to work with any bluetooth capable computer I'd have been able to load the most updated firmware so that it COULD recognize the newer phone.

This will be the last time I purchase an Alpine product if this is how far their quality standards have fallen.

I believe this has a faceplate.....that in itself might be worth it. I currently have a Double DIn and hate the fact that it does not have a faceplate I can take off. Something to consider and not all reviews were bad.